Argentina Decrees Accent Free Dubbing

The Argentine accent has a distinctive, lyrical quality to it. It was influenced by early European immigrants who landed in the country a century ago.

While some Latin countries are said to find the language outdated, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez is trying to preserve this cultural heritage and raise national pride. She has decreed that certain broadcast television programs in Argentina will only be shown dubbed in Argentine Spanish.

The Associated Press reports Argentine film director Carlos Mentasti is in favour of the ruling. “Impregnated by television and video games, Argentine kids often use, from a very young age, words that aren’t part of our idiosyncrasy,” Mentasti said. “That’s why supporting everything that’s ours when it comes to culture is always positive.”

This is great news for Argentine voice talent as more jobs will be created and filled in Argentina itself, though the stipulation is that the language used in the dubbing must be “neutral” enough for all Latin Americans to understand.

The new ruling follows an under-enforced 25 year old law that foreign-language shows, films, and commercials must be dubbed by voice actors with the same “phonetic characteristics” as Argentines and only applies to broadcast television aimed solely at Argentine audiences, exempting shows that are broadcast to multiple countries.

All foreign content is required to be registered with the Argentine government. If any broadcast station fails to comply with the law they will receive a fine which will go back into the Argentine film industry.